Providing affordable, convenient, and sustainable safe water access to more than 480,000 people in Telangana
In the run-up to World Water Day, Safe Water Network India (SWNI) and Honeywell India today announced the launch of their 150th safe water station in Telangana. These stations provide safe drinking water access to more than 480,000 people in areas that suffer severe groundwater contamination, including fluorides, salinity, and nitrates.
Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF), the company’s not-for-profit entity, in partnership with SWN, has set up locally-owned and operated safe water stations delivering safe, affordable, and reliable water adhering to Bureau of Indian Standard and World Health Organization water quality standards. The stations use technology interventions to ensure an uninterrupted and sustainable supply of clean drinking water. These include remote monitoring systems to enable predictive maintenance, RFID-enabled smart cards to facilitate cashless transactions, water ATMs, and solar panels for off-grid power supply.
Ravi Sewak, Country Director, Safe Water Network India, said, “We are committed to ensuring that communities have access to safe water, especially the disadvantaged people living in areas affected by groundwater contamination. We focus on driving sustainability by building local capabilities to operate safe water stations, mobilize strong grassroots community support, and deploying technology for training and monitoring to overcome the challenge of semi-literacy. The Honeywell-funded safe water stations touch the bottom of the pyramid, helping generate livelihoods, enabling each person in the value chain to become an entrepreneur, operator, distributor, or technician.”
Community engagement is key to promoting safe water adoption, which begins with door-to-door consumer outreach. The program largely engages women and has already provided employment to more than 75 women in the state. They are involved in operations and management and are becoming entrepreneurs and operators of these safe water stations.
Akshay Bellare, Vice President and General Manager, Honeywell Technology Solutions, India, said, “It is important to understand that safe water is not just about health. It allows children to go to school every day, parents to work, and enhances living standards. Honeywell remains invested in Telangana. We are deeply tied to the community through this flagship program, and, in addition, we’re also helping build the state into a technology and engineering hub, with Honeywell engineers working on global technologies every day.”
Since 2015, SWNI and Honeywell India have set up safe water stations in 17 districts of Telangana, namely Peddapalli, Karimnagar, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Warangal (Rural), Warangal (Urban), Khammam, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Mahabubabad, Jagtial, Jangaon, Suryapet, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Medak, Adilabad, Hyderabad, and Sangareddy districts.
